(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil was ticking higher Tuesday morning amid speculation that the Federal Reserve would hint on some monetary easing measures.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for August delivery, edged up $0.15 to $88.58 a barrel. Yesterday, oil moved up on hopes that China and the US will take new steps to bolster their economies.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was leveling off from its 2-year high versus the euro, while trading flat against sterling. The buck was moving higher versus the yen and little changed against the Swiss franc.
In economic news from the euro zone, a measure of German investor sentiment declined for the third month in a row in July, results of a survey revealed. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment dropped to minus 19.6 points from minus 16.9 in June. That was slightly better than economists' forecast for a score of minus 20.
Meanwhile, U.K.'s annual consumer price inflation eased for a third straight month in June to the lowest level since November 2009, helped by falling fuel prices and heavy discounting to boost sales, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Traders will look to the inflation report from the U.S. Labor Department due at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect the headline index to have remained unchanged compared to a 0.2 percent increase in core inflation. In May, consumer prices fell 0.3 percent, while core consumer prices rose 0.2 percent.
Later during the session, the National Association of Homebuilders will release the results of its July survey on homebuilders' confidence. The consensus estimates call for the index to increase by 1 point to 30.
Today after the market hours, the API will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the weekended July 13.
